


Through the Night

by MissTangle



Series: Whumptober 2018 [5]
Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Also it feels kinda strange but I've restarted this fic three times I'm giving up, Benji reciprocates but Ethan doesn't know, Ethan is hopelessly in love with Benji, Fever, Fever Dreams, I've realized that giving Benji nightmares is my go-to plotline, M/M, Short One Shot, Sickfic, What else is new?, Whumptober 2018, and I mean short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 08:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16657747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTangle/pseuds/MissTangle
Summary: Benji comes down with a fever in the middle of a mission and Ethan is left to care for him. It's not so easy when Benji's symptoms include fever-induced nightmares.





	Through the Night

**Author's Note:**

> As promised, more Whumptober, but no longer in order! I'll probably be jumping around quite a bit now, trying to write whatever prompts give me good inspiration before this wave of motivation dies out. Hopefully that doesn't bug you guys too much.
> 
> Behold, Whumptober Day 8: Fever!

It didn’t surprise Ethan at all that the first time he’d ever known Benji to be sick was right in the middle of a mission. He always did have a flair for the dramatic.

Benji had done a good job of pushing through it, but when they returned to the safe house for the night, Ethan could tell just how bad Benji was feeling. Even if his body language hadn’t been so obvious, Ethan would have been able to tell from his eyes. Benji could never really keep his eyes from giving away his feelings. At least not to Ethan.

“You okay, Benji?” Ethan asked him after they’d stashed their gear. He had a feeling that if he didn’t address it, Benji wouldn’t actually bother to take care of himself. He’d just keep trying to tough it out.

“Hmm?” Benji turned to him, blinking slowly, looking dazed. “Oh, yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Ethan knew better than that. He closed the distance between them in a few strides and held his wrist to Benji’s forehead. “Benji, you’re burning up.”

“I’m fine,” Benji insisted again, although he leaned into the cool touch of Ethan’s hand when Ethan pressed his palm against Benji’s cheek.

“Nice try.” Ethan shook his head, still amazed at how stubborn Benji could be. “You need to get some rest. Come on.” He wrapped an arm around Benji’s waist to lead him to his bedroom. Benji protested weakly, but eventually allowed himself to be guided to his room.

Ethan deposited Benji on the bed and looked him over. He was shivering slightly, arms wrapped around himself despite the sweat on his brow. Ethan’s protective instincts flared up. He wasn’t sure when he’d started feeling like this about Benji, but he couldn’t deny that he now needed to take care of this man who’d waltzed into his life with a bright smile and quite possibly stolen his heart.

He left for a moment to get Benji some water, and when he returned, he found that Benji had managed to kick off his shoes and remove his jacket before curling up in the bed, already asleep. Ethan caught himself shaking his head again, bemused. He set the glass of water on the nightstand and grabbed the bed sheet, carefully tucking Benji in before he settled himself in the little chair at the desk nearby. He couldn’t convince himself to leave, even though he knew perfectly well that there wasn’t much point in staying.

Or so he thought until Benji cried out in his sleep.

Ethan was by his side in an instant, barely in time to catch him as he very nearly thrashed out of the bed. Benji didn’t wake, but his thrashing did subside as Ethan held him. He muttered incoherently, and although Ethan couldn’t make out any words, he could tell that Benji was scared. And so he perched on the edge of the bed and stroked Benji’s hair and murmured soft soothing words to him until he relaxed back into a calm sleep.

When he was sure that Benji had settled down again, Ethan hurriedly went to fetch a washcloth for Benji’s forehead, having noticed how hot his skin still was. He should’ve known that Benji would have fever dreams. He carefully draped the neatly folded cloth over Benji’s forehead, wondering why he’d expected anything less. Nothing could ever be easy for Benji, it seemed.

Benji had a few more nightmares during the night. Ethan ended up sleeping on the floor to make sure he’d be there when they happened. They were bad enough to wake Benji up a couple times, gasping for air, shivering, drenched in sweat. He calmed down quickly enough, and not once did he question Ethan’s close proximity to him, much to Ethan’s relief. Ethan even managed to get him to drink some water and drift back off to sleep with minimal protest.

When morning finally arrived, Ethan was relieved to find that Benji’s fever had fallen and he seemed to be feeling better. He talked and joked and acted like his usual self. Ethan couldn’t help but smile at him, glad to see him back to normal after such a rough night. They gathered their things and were about to head out when Benji suddenly turned to Ethan with a soft smile on his face.

“Hey, Ethan?”

“Yeah, Benji?”

“Thank you for taking care of me last night.”


End file.
